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Brighton & Hove Albion beat Manchester United 2-1 in a Premier League match at Old Trafford on Sunday (August 7) to start off their campaign on a high note. However, it was a nightmarish start for Erik ten Hag in his competitive managerial debut for the Red Devils.
Pascal Gross scored a brace for Brighton in the first half to give his side a comfortable lead. Manchester United reduced the deficit through an Alexis Mac Allister own goal in the second half, but it was not enough to secure a point.
On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Manchester United lacked teeth in attack as Brighton scored first
Manchester United started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Christian Eriksen surprisingly playing as the false nine. Bruno Fernandes played as the customary No.10. Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench as Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho started on the left and right flanks, respectively.
However, the above set-up meant that United were often not incisive enough upfront. Eriksen had a tendency to drop back and neither of the wingers managed to cut in from the flanks. Both Rashford and Sancho are more at ease cutting in from the left flank and hence, Sancho looked out of sorts while playing on the right. Moreover, Scott McTominay played an advanced role and often ventured forward as United’s formation turned 4-1-4-1 with Fred as the lone defensive midfielder.
Still, United could have gone ahead had Fernandes been able to shoot home from McTominay’s deflected cross from the right. However, the Portuguese midfielder only managed to blast the ball over the bar.
Brighton then slowly started to impose themselves by having more possession and moving the ball really well. Former United player Danny Welbeck kept troubling the United defense with his probing runs. He received a through ball and played it across to Gross, who made no mistake in slotting it home from close distance.
#2 Brighton asserted themselves by scoring again as United looked ordinary
The visitors started to dominate the proceedings after scoring the goal. Welbeck remained a disturbance for Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez while Adam Lallana pulled the strings in midfield. Manchester United, meanwhile, struggled to string a few passes together and there was hardly any wing-play either.
To make matters worse for United, McTominay was at times their most advanced player. Quite understandably, however, the Scottish midfielder lacked the finesse required in the final third as the Brighton defense dealt with United’s sporadic attacks easily. The visitors put pressure on United’s defense with their adroit passing and their second goal was a by-product of their fluid football.
Solly March, Brighton’s left wing-back who had switched to the right flank momentarily, received the ball from Lallana following one of his overlapping runs and took a shot that was parried by David De Gea. However, Gross made no mistake in scoring from the rebound and thereby marked a disastrous first half for Manchester United.
#3 United pulled one back in the second half, but Brighton managed to hold on for a win
United went for more attacking options as Ten Hag decided to finally introduce Ronaldo in place of Fred a few minutes into the second half. Ronaldo’s introduction had some impact as United seemed to have more intent upfront.
United also had more attempts at goal in the second half as Diogo Dalot had his shot saved by Robert Sanchez. Rashford missed the target by some margin from Fernandes’ cross. Eriksen, looking more comfortable in a deeper role in the second half, saw his shot parried by Sanchez.
United scored their goal from the resultant corner as Mac Allister put the ball inside his own goal while trying to clear it off the line. United thus had a spell of continuous attacks at Brighton’s goal, but the equalizer eluded them.
Somewhat surprisingly, Ten Hag decided to persist with Sancho until the 90th minute and only then replaced him with Anthony Elanga. The Swedish winger did not get the time to make a sizeable impact as the visitors registered a memorable win.
